Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the level of trade with and procurement from Commonwealth nations of the UK leaving the EU.

The Commonwealth is an important part of our trade policy, and the UK hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) earlier this year.

The Government is seeking continuity for our existing EU trade arrangements, including those with Commonwealth countries, as we leave the EU.

44 of our 52 Commonwealth partners currently benefit from development-friendly preferential access to the UK market. The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act enables the UK to implement a scheme for developing countries which will, as a minimum, provide the same level of access as the current EU trade preference scheme, including maintaining duty-free, quota-free access for the world’s least developed countries. The UK is also seeking to remain in the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) on the same terms and with the same level of coverage as it offers now, which will provide continuity with respect to Commonwealth nations’ access to UK public procurements.

After leaving the EU, we will be able to forge our own way by negotiating, ratifying and signing trade deals. As part of preparations for that, the Government has launched public consultations on possible UK trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand and potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes 6 members of the Commonwealth.